Ronald "Ron" Dragt, aged 77, died peacefully in his home surrounded by family on April 4th, 2015.
Ron was born February 9, 1938 in Prinsburg, MN to John and Ruby Dragt. After high school graduation he married Diana – the love of his life and devoted partner. He joined the United States Air Force and was stationed at Lowry Air Force Base in Denver, CO for the majority of his 4 years. He was an instructor for electronics systems.
Not long after his discharge he moved his young family to Southern California to work for IBM. His Air Force experience qualified him for a job as a field engineer, working on mainframe computers in an era when they were the size of a small car. It was in Southern California that Ron developed a love for fast cars and motorcycles. At one time the family vehicles were a '67 Camaro SS, '69 Datsun 2000 Roadster and a Yamaha 650 chopper, as well as dirt bikes.
He belonged to the La Mirada Community Playhouse, performing roles in local repertory theatre productions including in "The Torchbearers", "Odd Couple", "Come Blow Your Horn" and others.
In 1977 IBM moved Ron to the San Jose office and the family settled in Gilroy, CA. Ron worked as a software engineer with IBM until his retirement at age 55, in 1993.
In retirement Ron was an avid bridge player and active member of his local bridge club. He amassed nearly 3000 master points and attained Gold Life Master status over the years. Along with Diana, a skilled player in her own right, he played in tournaments locally, regionally and nationally. He and Diana also parlayed their bridge-playing skill into opportunities to travel – teaching bridge on cruise ships. In this way they were able to enjoy more international travel in retirement – something they had developed a taste for during a European trip in 1978.
Ron also enjoyed many other types of games from card games, to board games, to Mario Kart on the Wii. Playing games with family at the holidays was especially entertaining.
Ron loved a wide range of music and had an impressive collection of vinyl that he was in the process of converting to digital files.
Ron was known as a very intelligent man, often serving as Diana's human Google, even before the internet. His keen sense of humor and delight in making other people laugh will be sorely missed by all who knew him.
He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Diana, sons Thomas, Jon (Brenda), and Jeremy (Lisa) – all from the west coast - mother Ruby, brother Perry (Carol), sister Sandy (Mike) – all from Litchfield, MN – and many cousins, nieces, nephews, and dog Molly. He is preceded in death by his father John, and siblings Duane and Phil.
Services will be held Saturday, April 25th, 11am at Habing Family Funeral Home, 129 4th Street Gilroy, California 95020. A luncheon will be served following the service and Diana and family would be honored to have you join them.
A memorial service for extended family in the Mid-West will be planned for the summer.